Second Amendment to the United States Constitution

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The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is the provision that protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms, forming a central focus of American legal and political debates over gun regulation.


Statements (51)
Predicate Object
instanceOf constitutional amendment
provision of the United States Constitution
adoptedOn 1791-12-15
appliesTo federal government of the United States
state governments of the United States
author First United States Congress
category Amendments to the United States Constitution
Gun politics in the United States
Human rights in the United States
centralTo debates over gun control in the United States
debates over gun rights in the United States
gun politics in the United States
citedIn federal court decisions
legal scholarship
state court decisions
country United States of America
debatedBy advocacy organizations
legal scholars
politicians
hasLandmarkCase District of Columbia v. Heller
McDonald v. City of Chicago
New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen
heldToProtect individual right to possess firearms
individual right to use firearms for traditionally lawful purposes such as self-defense within the home
historicalContext concerns about standing armies
importance of state militias
post-Revolutionary War period in the United States
includedIn Bill of Rights
incorporatedThrough Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
influences federal firearm regulations
state firearm regulations
interpretedBy Supreme Court of the United States
interpretedIn District of Columbia v. Heller
McDonald v. City of Chicago
New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen
language English
legalField civil rights law
constitutional law
legalStatus in force
limits government regulation of firearms
partOf United States Bill of Rights
United States Constitution
proposedBy United States Congress
proposedOn 1789-09-25
protects right of the people to keep and bear arms
ratifiedOn 1791-12-15
relatedTo Militia Acts of the United States
gun control laws in the United States
subject militia
right to keep and bear arms
text A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.


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